


Want anything?

by savingpeoplehuntingthings



Series: Nightmares [5]
Category: Supernatural
Genre: Brotherly Love, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Gen, Nightmares, Set start of season 4
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-07-31
Updated: 2013-07-31
Packaged: 2017-12-22 00:42:06
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 489
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/906881
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/savingpeoplehuntingthings/pseuds/savingpeoplehuntingthings
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It was always Sam who had the nightmares, but this time Dean, fresh back from hell, has a nightmare, and Sam comforts him.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Want anything?

**Author's Note:**

> Sam is 25, Dean is 29. Set at the start of season 4.
> 
> Inspired by this GIF:

 

It was always Sam who had the nightmares. Well, Dean had them too, but he was a lot better at hiding them than his younger brother. Maybe it was because their father had allowed Sam to be scared, but Dean had to be the fearless little soldier who protected Sammy. Dean wasn't allowed to have nightmares under John's watch. But now John was dead. And two years later, Sam still had nightmares about his abusive father. Out of all the monsters they saw, his father was the one that scared him the most. 

However, during the past four months, it wasn't a demon, or his father that had infected his dreams and poisoned his sleep, it had been Dean. He relived it over and over and over again: the claws, the blood, the bright white light… and then his brother's blank glassy eyes staring back at him as he buckled and fell to the floor and wept.

Sam woke with a hiccough and a little whimper. He had learnt not to feel around blindly for Dean's hand to bring him some comfort because every time he did so, he would break down, the sleep and the inevitable hangover making him more emotional than usual.

But this time was different. In his sluggish state, he slowly realised that it wasn't his own muttering and moaning that had woken him up… it was Dean's. Dean was back from hell. Sam suddenly remembered. His eyes softened and he bit his lip, staring at his tough, I-don't-give-a-crap older brother trashing around on the bed. He slipped out from under the duvet and padded over to the bed where he laid a hand on Dean's shoulder and shook it gently, trying not to touch the angry red handprint there just in case it hurt him. 

"Dean! Dean wake up!" Sam tried to say it loudly, but his voice caught in his throat at the sight of his brother in so much pain. Or maybe it was just the sleep and the dehydration. Dean turned over and mumbled unintelligibly. Sam leant over and grabbed his brother's trashing arms and held him still until he stopped shaking. "Dean?" He said, louder this time.

"Mmmm?" Dean burbled, not opening his eyes.

"Nightmare Dean," Sam explained softly. "You alright?"

Getting no reply, he asked, "Want anything?"

Dean made a noise that Sam understood as a no.

"Just making sure you're okay," he said, walking back to bed, his bare feet cold against the thin carpeted floor.

Dean shifted so he was lying on his side, facing away from his brother. Sam knew that trick: the quivering shoulders; hiding the face; the wobbly voice that said, "Yeah I'm fine, just go back to sleep," when it really meant, 'thank you'. That was his trick - turning away so Dean couldn’t see him tremble and cry with the aftershock of the nightmare. It was his trick and they both knew it.


End file.
